Our continuation of the series looking at the Bengals 10 worst draft picks when drafting from a top 10 position:

10. Greg Cook, QB, University of Cincinnati, 5th Overall Pick in 1969
9. Justin Smith, DE, University of Missouri, 4th Overall Pick in 2001

8. Dan Wilkinson, DT, The Ohio State University, 1st Overall Pick 1994

Following a 3-13 Dave Shula led season in 1993, the Bengals were positioned in the #1 draft spot as one of the most sought after college players in years sat ready to be picked. “Big Daddy” Dan Wilkinson left college for the NFL after being named an All-American for his Sophomore season at Ohio State. Having redshirted, Wilkinson was a 21-year-old defensive tackle who played only two seasons of college football. With his size and athletic ability, he dominated at the college level, and wowed everyone at the NFL Combine. He measured up at 6'3⅝" and 313 pounds, could bench-press 500 pounds, and could also jump 30 inches off the ground. To top off the day, Big Daddy ran the 40 yard dash in 4.79 seconds. Everyone in the draft wanted Wilkinson, and the only dilemma the Bengals had was whether to take Wilkinson, or to cash in and trade out of the top spot. Before the draft, Big Daddy dropped this ominous quote that would predict the next 14 years, "If Cincinnati shows they want to get the top-notch players and move to the next level, O.K. If they continue to be cheap and go after secondhand players, then I don't want to be part of that organization." The second pick that year following Big Daddy was future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.
Many people consider Big Daddy to be a bust, but perhaps he just did not live up to the mountain of hype that followed him into the league. Let’s compare Big Daddy to the recent missed opportunity of Shaun Rogers. Shaun Rogers just completed his 7th season in the NFL, he is 29 years old, played in 98 games, has 29 sacks and 256 tackles. After his seventh season in the NFL, 4 with the Bengals and 3 with the Redskins, Big Daddy was 28 years old, played in 109 games, had 44sacks and 205 tackles. The criticism of Wilkinson was that he was lazy and could dominate if he wanted to put in the effort, the same statements surround Rogers. Ironically, Big Daddy and Rogers played together with the Lions from 2003 to 2005. During that time, Wilkinson drew more double teams while Rogers made his only pro bowl appearances. Basically, another reason to be happy the Browns are spending $42million on Rogers.
In 1995 his second season with the Bengals, Big Daddy led NFL interior linemen with 8 sacks. The next season, he led the team with 6.5 sacks, sad for the team but true. He played only 4 seasons with the Bengals, yet Big Daddy is 8th on the Bengals career sack list with 25, pathetic. To put that number in perspective, 25 sacks would make Big Daddy 7th on the Ravens career sack list, a franchise with 12 seasons of history.
After his fourth season with the Bengals, Big Daddy was done with his rookie contract. When the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him, Wilkinson was not happy in any way and lashed out at the city and franchise. At that point the Redskins signed Big Daddy and gave the Bengals first and third round picks. The Bengals used those picks to draft Brian Simmons and Mike Goff, both had solid Bengal and NFL careers. In the end, Big Daddy played 13 NFL seasons for 4 teams registering 54.5 sacks and 301 tackles. 54.5 sacks would lead the Bengals all time list by 8 sacks. A defensive tackle leading in sacks is not common and shows the sorry state of defensive line play in the history of the Bengals franchise.

Check in periodically as we count down to the worst Bengals draft pick in history leading up to the 2008 NFL draft.